My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me by Hilary Winston

Summary (via the author's website): "Just when Hilary Winston is finally getting her life together she finds out her ex-boyfriend wrote an unflattering novel about her, referring to her as the "fat-assed girlfriend." This sends her into a downward spiral that's sometimes hilarious, and other times heartbreaking, causing her to question that almost-five-year relationship - as well as every relationship she's had before and after it. Now Hilary reveals her dirty laundry in a laugh-out-loud, non-fiction book written for every woman who's ever been dumped."

Review: This book got three stars. I would have given it four, but it was a little too ...raunchy? ...irreverent? ...for my taste. I was a little unsettled and fascinated by that aspect of it. I wouldn't really recommend it to many of my friends, and I kind of hope that if anyone I know read it, they wouldn't think of me.

It was a very (VERY) honest book, which is a big point that she makes early in the book. THIS book is real. It's NON fiction. The book that Kyle wrote is in the fiction section, which upsets Hilary because she know that he didn't make it all up. Kyle's book takes real things and puts them in a (mostly) fictional story, while Hilary's book does its best to be completely honest.

Well said, Hilary. And the fact that you write for Community makes me like you that much more.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, funny, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-adult

Rating:

Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

Summary (via the author's website): "When newly single Tilly Cole impulsively quits her London job for a fresh start in the small town of Roxborough she finds she's arrived in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue and rampant rivalry for the most desirable men. Tilly has no intention of joining in – she's just happy with her new Girl Friday job.

Then she meets Jack Lucas.

Jack is irresistible… and he's got his eye on Tilly. But there are shocking rumours about his wicked reputation. Tilly doesn’t want to be just another notch on anyone's bedpost. But is she being mature and sensible – or is she running away from the love of her life?"

Review: This was a fun book. I liked the characters a lot, although I noticed something in this book especially that bothered me.

The man always realizes early on that he's super into/in love with the girl, then spends the rest of the book either waiting for or convincing her to come around. Do guys really do that?

Anyway, it was a smart read, and I liked it a lot. I'm gonna take a break from Jill Mansell (four in a row is a little much for me), but I'll definitely be back to read the rest.

 Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-adult 

Rating:

Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell

Summary (via the author's website): "Miranda is thrilled when she meets Greg at a cocktail party. He's gorgeous, he's funny - and he's very keen. Just what a girl needs to put some sparkle in her life. Heavens, he's practically perfect! Greg likes Miranda a lot. She's young, she's pretty, and she never talks about babies. Of course he hasn't told her everything about himself - even the sweetest girls can be a bit funny about a man who's just left his newly pregnant wife. But there's no way she's going to find out - or is there?

Luckily for Miranda men are like buses - you don't see any for ages then three come along at once. She just needs to catch the right one..."

Review: I feel like these books are getting progressively less funny as I read them. And the main characters are getting less likeable. I mean, Miranda's fine. But I don't really like her all that much. I think she was supposed to be... like, quirky and whimsical, but she mostly just came across as kind of weird and slightly obnoxious.

And my favorite relationship wasn't the one she ended up with, either. It was bachelor number 2, actually. Even though that circumstance was completely contrived... Seriously? Out of nowhere you just decide that this random girl you met weeks ago, once, is the girl of your dreams?

All that aside, it was cute enough. The side characters were fun.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, nook-adult

Rating:

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Summary (via the author's website): "Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated-and with it, order-and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder-does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?"

Review: I'm gonna say something that goes against certain principles I have. But... I really could have done without the kissing stuff. Like, all of it.

I know, right? I'm usually so in favor! But I honestly think I could have done without it.

It's fine, in and of itself. And taking it out would have changed some of the themes of the book, so it's fine where it is.

But as a book, I felt some of the kissing stuff weakened it a little. Like, not enough survival and fighting for your life. Too much taking a break for kissing.

Other than that, awesome book. Lots of nail-biting and intrigue. Love it.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, thought-provoking

Rating:

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

Summary (via goodreads): "Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined…"

Review: Ok, novella. So not much of a plot, not much of character development, and not much of anything, really. Because it's a novella. So here's what it had:

-World-building. The characters went to a couple parties, they went out shopping, and they went out to socialize and be seen a little bit. And everywhere they went, the steampunk world was described and lived in, to give me as a first-time reader of this series (the first book is out already, yes?) a feel for what it's like to live there. It was a huge priority, thrown in at every possible moment, yet it wasn't pushy or clunky; it was just world-building, in a big way.

-Finley. So I looked at this novella as kind of an advertisement for the rest of the series (why else would you give away a prequel novella as a free ebook?), and because it doesn't seem to me like Phoebe or Lady Morton are in the next book (but I could easily be wrong), I as a reader really needed to like Finley. So she (obviously) took center stage. I liked her well enough; she seems sensible, and also willing to admit when she's wrong, while at the same time slightly schizophrenic. (I was SO glad that even though there was that whole "weaker side being asleep thing," that she still remembered her excursion in the middle of the night. Memory loss would have made that WAY too Jekyll and Hyde for me.)

I may or may not read the real books in this series; we'll see if they cross my path or not.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, my-kind-of-woman, nook-ya

Rating:

Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell

Summary (via the author's website): "Poppy Dunbar is out on her hen night when she meets Tom Kennedy. With his dark eyes and quirky smile, he could lure any girl off the straight and narrow, but what really draws Poppy to him is the feeling that she’s known him all her life. She can’t go through with the meeting they arrange – but she can’t go through with the wedding either. Suddenly notorious as ‘The Girl Who Jilted Rob Macbride’, Poppy moves to London. Soon she’s installed in the bohemian household of Caspar French, a ravishingly good-looking young artist with a reputation for breaking hearts. But even in her colourful new home, Poppy can’t get Tom off her mind. Until she’s tracked him down, she’ll never know if their meeting was destiny – or if the future holds something entirely different for her…"

Review: So... super predictable, and less funny than Millie's Fling. But still riveting, so that's good. 

The main romance was pretty believable (except for the very end... um, seriously?), and the peripheral one was, too, although it was slightly cliche.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-adult 

Rating:

Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell

Summary (via Goodreads): "Bestselling novelist Orla Hart owes her life to her friend Millie Brady, whose rotten boyfriend has just left her. So Orla invites Millie to Cornwall, where Millie looks forward to a summer without any dating whatsoever. But Orla envisions Millie as the heroine of her next novel and decides to find Millie the man of her dreams. Except the two women have drastically different ideas about what kind of guy that should be.

With Orla and Millie working at cross-purposes, and a dashing but bewildered hero stuck in the middle, the summer will turn out to be unforgettable for all concerned..."

Review: Fer cute! In fact, this book was stinkin' cute.

Predictable, maybe. Maybe a little. But the people actually had personalities! They totally did! The banter was actually WITTY - hallelujah!

I was slightly surprised - my favorite character turned out to be Lucas. And Con. :)

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-adult

Rating:

Boston Jane: The Claim by Jennifer Holm

Summary (via the author's website): "With a mind of her own and a handsome suitor who loves her for it, seventeen-year-old Jane Peck is the darling of the Washington Territory. She's outwitted wild animals, vengeful ghosts, and a disloyal fiancé, but when her finishing school nemesis Sally Biddle invades Shoalwater Bay, Jane discovers that the most dangerous thing on the frontier may be an impeccably dressed debutante. As the Biddles of Philadelphia charm their way into Jane's close-knit community, she finds everything she holds dear threatened -- including her true love, a rakish sailor named Jehu. Will Jane's claim on happiness slip away?

This third book of the richly historical Boston Jane trilogy carries on the tradition of rip-roaring romance and adventure that began with Boston Jane: An Adventure and Boston Jane: Wilderness Days. Jane has survived the wilderness and claimed herself a home, but her frontier trials are far from over. It will take all of the spunk and spit Jane can muster to protect her land and preserve her dreams."

Review: I liked the role reversal. In Wilderness Days, Jane wouldn't believe the people around her who knew better and kept trying to warn her and give her advice. But in The Claim, Jane actually knows better than the people who won't believe her. It made me sad and frustrated, to see her so helpless and with so few options, but I love that she stayed strong and spunky.

I feel like she was more mature in this book, which I love. It makes sense to me that she would have done a lot of growing up in the last year(?) or so, since she's all alone and stuff.

I hope that Sally Biddle (aka Nellie Olson... anyone?) becomes a nice person some day. She's the kind of person who should use her powers for good, not evil.

Good, strong ending to an awesome series. I wish there were more. :)

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman

Rating:

How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle

Summary (via goodreads): "Vicks is the wild child whose boyfriend has gone suspiciously quiet since he left for college; Mel is the newcomer desperate to be liked; and Jesse will do anything to avoid a life-altering secret. Each one has her own reason for wanting to get the heck out of their nowheresville town, even just for the weekend. So they climb into Jesse's mom's "borrowed" station wagon and head south.

Hearts will be broken, friendships will be tested, and a ridiculously hot stranger could change the course of everything."

Review: I've been trying to find this book ever since I decided to read all of E. Lockhart's teen books. (Which I now have.) And it's funny, because one week I find it sitting there at the library, and the NEXT week the NookBook shows up for 1.99! (That promotion might still be going on, by the way. Go look.) So... it's pretty much fate.

I REALLY liked this book. The emotions and the characters were super real, including the misunderstanding about trying to hook up with a guy while drunk, not knowing why her boyfriend didn't call, and putting on a show instead of telling everyone what's wrong.

It was interesting knowing Jesse's secret before the other girls, who didn't find out until the end.

I liked when Mel started playing the Be Assertive card, because until then she was in danger of falling into Little Sister territory.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-ya, thought-provoking

Rating:

Boston Jane: Wilderness Days by Jennifer L. Holm

Summary (via the author's website): "Abandoned on the frontier by her faithless fiancé, Jane Peck prepares to head home, only to learn that the Philadelphia life she once knew is no more. But can a proper young lady find happiness as the only woman in a primitive pioneer settlement? Armed with only a finishing-school education and her natural determination, Jane must endure life with her flea-bitten landlord, a perilous manhunt, and the traps and hazards of a blossoming romance.

Will Jane survive the challenges of the wild, uncharted frontiers of friendship, love, and the Washington Territory?"

Review: So... I take issue with people in books not seeing things that are obvious to me. But maybe I'm being unreasonable. So let's look at this in bullet-point fashion.-I understood from early in book 1 that Jane's father was dying. But maybe Jane was too wrapped up in herself to see the glaringly obvious clues that I saw.
-Also, there wasn't a super convenient time in book 1 to introduce that information to Jane, something that... kind of bothers me.
-But it WAS a plot point in book 2 (kind of a big one, actually), so it's good that she got the letter in book 2.
-Is the death of Mr. Peck supposed to be a huge surprise to the reader? I'm inclined to say no.

Ok, now I've worked through that. Thanks for bearing with me, everyone.

The other thing I take issue with is the mid-book, "I LOVE him! I just never realized it until now!" Except it's more of a "Hey, everyone doesn't hate me! I just never realized it until now!" Also, until Jehu pointed it out, I didn't realize Jane complained so much. But she does, and that kind of got on my nerves.

Sidenote that has nothing to do with anything: I keep pronouncing it "Jeju," because "Jehu" just doesn't work for my mind. Jeju Island, if you were wondering, is an island in South Korea.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman

Rating: